


Surrender

by medusa20



Category: The Big Bang Theory
Genre: Community: comment_fic, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-08
Updated: 2012-03-08
Packaged: 2017-11-01 16:07:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/358719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/medusa20/pseuds/medusa20
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sheldon finally realizes tea is not the cure-all. Penny is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surrender

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a comment fic with the specifications of Any/Any and the theme of surrender.
> 
> Of course, because I am a complete failure at any basic Internet skills, I can't find the prompt now.
> 
> So, endless apologies to the prompter. I hope those of you who happen upon this ficlet enjoy it.
> 
> Trippy, I'd really appreciate it if you stopped laughing at me now.

He wakes with a gasp.  His hand reaches out, groping at the blackness in front of him. Sheldon lets his hand fall to the bed.  He glances at the clock - 3AM - and shakes his head at the futility of it all.  Tea will soothe his nerves and calm the racing of his heart that is surely a result of eating an extra helping of Pad Thai tonight.

His robe is at the foot of his bed.  Sheldon slides his arms into it and pads toward the kitchen.  He pauses before he rounds the corner.  How many times has he stopped at this point, bracing himself for the vision that always fills his mind?  Penny dancing around. French toast dripping in her hands.  The shirt flicking up with each shake of her hips to reveal a flash of fuchsia undergarment.  The shimmy of her shoulders and the twinkle in her eyes as she tells him to dance with her.  French toast was not the only thing he denied himself that day.

Thankfully, the kitchen is empty of any dancing Penny on this night.  Sheldon sets to making his tea.  As always, routine comforts him ~~.~~   Get the mug, the third one on the left.  Fill it from the tap, leaving exactly a half inch between brim and water line.  Place in microwave for precisely one minute, fifty seconds.  Any longer and the water becomes scalding and he’ll waste precious time waiting for it to cool.

The last thought pulls him up short.  He pauses between cabinet and microwave. The tea bag dangles in his hand and the water in the mug sloshes toward freedom. Wasting precious time.  Sheldon Cooper doesn’t waste time.  His life has been specifically designed to avoid that.  Each day planned to the final second.  Each action has its equal and opposite reaction accounted for or incorporated into his day.

Except.

 _His_ equal and opposite reaction moved across the hall five years ago and he’s done nothing about it other than sip endless cups of tea and prowl his apartment at night, trying not to think of the scent of jasmine or a blonde curl or the thrill that comes each time those green eyes flash as she takes a stand against him.  Sheldon places the cup down on the island.  Tea isn’t getting him anywhere. 

Sheldon walks to his door  and strides across the hall to 4B.  His fist hovers just above Penny’s door.  He looks over his shoulder at his apartment door.  He could go back inside. Make his tea, go back to bed and just complete this cycle again and again because Penny has taken the place in his thoughts where physics should be.  He claims to be a man of science, but he has come to accept, where she is concerned, that he is merely just a man.

His hand has already begun the series of triple knocks.  Her name falls from his lips.  He can hear the pad of her feet as they approach the door and the curses that she makes no effort to keep quiet.

Her door opens.  He clears his throat and stands to his full height.  He moves to clasp his hands behind his back, but one betrays him and reaches out nearly tracing the outline of her face.

“Sheldon?”

“You win,” he replies.


End file.
